I have some really great news to share with everyone. The book I spent the past two years writing and editing was finally published with TESOL Press! It took me about 1 year to complete all my research, which included conducting over 100 interviews with teachers and students, and 6 months to write it. It was like writing another graduate thesis! My book then spent about a year in editing with Andy Curtis and the TESOL Press copy editors. I'm especially grateful to Andy for all the valuable advice he offered me in the editing stage. The focus of the book is about the challenges Cambodian students face when trying to get an education, and the obstacles teachers have to overcome to provide this education. There are two chapters that specifically focus on the lives of the BEA staff and students, and their daily hardships. The book also describes how BEA has contributed to the advancement of teaching and education in the NGO sector, and makes recommendations for those who would like to work in the sector.

There are 2 chapters from the book that you can read, which are in the Research and Resources section of the website. Chapter 2 describes the development of English language policy in Cambodia, and describes the challenges of teaching and learning in the public school system. Chapter 3 explains the challenges of providing education in the NGO sector, which include poor facilities, lack of training, few resources, rampant corruption. If you'd like to read the entire book, it's available on Amazonand Amazon Japan.

I thought I'd have a break for a little while from publishing, but as soon as I finished my last revisions for the book, TESOL Press accepted another one of my proposals for a book chapter. For this research paper, I described BEA's writing exchange program between the BEA students and my university students in Tokyo, and analysed how limited writing exchanges can decrease stereotypes. The title of my paper is Throwing away stereotypes: Deepening intercultural understanding through Cambodia-Japan letter exchanges, and it will appear in Voices from the TESOL classroom: Participant inquiries in higher education classes September 2016.

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.